What was the
experience like for a Jewish child, especially one who was but a young
immigrant, who attended a New York City public school in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

In the early
nineteenth century, most of the poor immigrant children who lived in New
York City did not attend public school, and most of those who did attend were
from the middle class.

Over the last twenty of so years of the nineteenth century, the number
of students attending public school swelled, as the number of young
immigrants from southern and eastern Europe increased dramatically. In 1874, the
state of New York passed a law that required all children must attend school.
Despite the lack of adequate school facilities, the school nevertheless became the
institution that was said would help assimilate and make more American
the throngs of immigrant children that arrived at our shores. Not only
would the public school teach the "3 R's," i.e. reading, writing and arithmetic,
but it would also indoctrinate the immigrant children into the
American way of life, e.g. democracy, nationalism and civic
responsibility.

With the building of
the Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridges in 1883 and 1903 respectively, as
various subway lines were built connecting Manhattan with Brooklyn, more
families chose to move from Manhattan to outlying areas such as
Brooklyn, perhaps to seek lower rent or to perhaps simply to move away
from the overcrowded conditions that existed on the Lower East
Side. As
the growing population in Brooklyn required more living quarters, more
and more tenements were built, often stretching for blocks and blocks,
as it had in a similar way on the Lower East Side. Conditions would
eventually deteriorate in Brooklyn too, and living conditions became
poor for many.
Within a five-year
period, between 1899 and 1904, the population of Brownsville increased
from ten thousand to sixty thousand!

With this increased population, more schools needed to be built to
educate the young. Many immigrant families who moved to Brooklyn chose
to live in neighborhoods where they could feel more comfortable, most
often with people of the same ethnicity or background. Such was the case
with Jewish families, and many such communities were formed throughout
Brooklyn. Many of the schools in these areas excelled academically and
were held in high esteem.

Despite being in the throes of the Great
Depression, a quality education was offered to the children who attended
the New York City public schools. They not only stressed academic
excellence, but spoke eloquently of the need for their graduates to
maintain high standards throughout their lives, to be of good character,
to have a sense of civic responsibility, to participate in a great
democracy, and to think straight in the most difficult of times.
Two such schools were Straus Junior High School ( P.S. 109) and Thomas
Jefferson High School, both located in the predominantly Jewish
East New York section of Brooklyn. Below is a positive message
written by the principal of P.S. 109 to the Graduating Class of
1933, followed by a similar message to the Thomas Jefferson Class of
1936, written by that school's principal. Remember again that this
was written during the time of the Great Depression.

On April 14, 1916, P.S. 109 in Brooklyn,
New York was renamed the Isidor Straus school, and the girls' department
bore the name of Isidor's wife Ida. Both perished aboard the Titanic
nearly four years to the day of its sinking. Isidor Straus had been a
co-owner or the famed department store R. H. Macy & Co. This dedication
was the result of a change in policy by the Board of Education to bestow
distinguish names upon the New York City schools, who up to that point
had been distinguished purely by number, e.g. P.S. 109 (Public School
109.)

From Joseph F. Wingebach, Principal of P.S. 109, Brooklyn, New York:

In these rather troublesome times it is essential for us to think
straight. Unemployment in our midst has created problems of need and
want which our own school's social service and our teachers' school
relief fund have helped to meet. To what extent this work has been
carried on during the past three years you have learned from reports
that have been circulated through school bulletins.

Discontent with existing conditions,
careless and frequently unjust criticism of public officials, classes
and institutions; indecision, confusion--these reflect a state of public
mind that needs straightening out. We must learn to think straight.
Merely to complain about unsatisfactory conditions is entirely
ineffective to correct existing civic shortcomings. As citizens we must
share in the responsibilities that citizenship imposes if we are to hope
to enjoy the blessings of good government in a decent democracy.

The thinking youth of the land is even now
awakening to the need for greater alertness and a more careful
preparation for the duties of citizenship. It has begun to study in a
practical way local needs, proposed reforms in government control,
better and more equitable representation, true economy versus false
economy, and other problems such as the selections of leaders and
leadership in government.

Before long you, too, will be required to
exercise the franchise in a democracy pledged to "liberty and justice
for all." You can prevent this quotation from becoming a hollow phrase
by beginning now to take a genuine interest in your local, city and
state government and in national affairs. Be numbered among the youth of
America pledged to seek no selfish personal gain but to establish and
maintain good clean government in their midst.

Finally--do not relinquish a hold on the
ideals of the framers of The Constitution. Stand behind Lincoln's
Gettysburg speech. Imbibe its reverent spirit. Prove yourself worthy to
take an active part in speeding up the realization of Woodrow Wilson's
dream of a "World made Safe for Democracy."

It was recently my privilege to appear before the Scout
Masters of a large district in Queens to address them on the subject of
personality development. These fine men give a great deal of their time
to the building up of high-grade boys, high-grade in manliness and in
all the traits which we group under the general term, "good character."

You will be quick
to see that these requirements are fundamental, that upon them there can
be built later on that imposing structure of qualities which we should
like to see in ourselves and which others so much admire. Let me in a
word indicate in what respects you can help yourselves.

Learn repose as
well as activity; learn to relax as well as to put forth your mightiest
efforts. It is my fervent wish that through successful methods used
now you may avert becoming a victim either of heart trouble or of
"nerves" at any time in your life.

Good speech marks
the gentleman and the lady. It is the outer sign of an inner culture.
The language of the street is unfortunately bad and can through its
vulgarities as well as its inaccuracies only degrade you. Make as your
models of speech the finest men and women whom you happen to know.

Critics of the
present age rightly condemn our manners and our crudities of behavior.
Courtesy, as the name indicates, springs from the heart. It goes from
one human being to another like healing balm and makes the recipient
happier through the kindliness and consideration shown to him. In both
men and women I especially admire graciousness.

May life treat
you generously and may you look back, as we teachers shall do, to some
very happy days spent together at Thomas Jefferson.

Your Friend and
Principal,Elias
Lieberman
Read more messages to other Senior classes that were written by Dr.
Elias Lieberman by clicking here.
Dr. Lieberman was not just a principal but a poet as well. He is
best known for penning the poem "I Am
an American."

Photos courtesy of the New York Public Library/Humanities and Social Sciences Library / Photography Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and
Photographs.